TheNaturePlanet

Are your tomato seedlings looking more and more wilted by the day, with floppy leaves? Today, I’ll guide you through diagnosis and first aid step by step—your tomato seedlings will perk up in no time!


### 1. Suffocated Roots
Did you plant the seedlings too deep when transplanting, worried they might topple over? That’s a mistake! Tomato roots need fresh air to breathe. Planting them too deep causes oxygen deprivation, making the seedlings wilt more and more.

**Symptoms**: The entire plant looks limp. When pulled out, the roots are black and give off a sour, rotten smell.

**First Aid**:
- Gently dig around the base and lift the seedling slightly, exposing 1-2cm of the stem base.
- Carefully loosen the soil with a small trowel (avoid damaging roots!). Repeat every 2 days for a week.
- Water with diluted rooting powder to encourage new root growth.

**Tips**: When transplanting, remember: "Shallow enough to not expose roots, deep enough to not bury the core." The top of the root ball should be level with the soil surface!


### 2. Damaged Roots
Cold temperatures in winter/spring, or over-fertilizing (oops,手抖!)? Tomato seedlings have delicate fine roots—cold damage or root burn from concentrated fertilizer can harm them.

#### Cold Damage
**Symptoms**: Leaf edges dry out; roots turn yellow and brittle.

**First Aid**:
- Let them absorb sunlight during the day to warm up.
- Cover with a plastic bag at night for insulation, and add a layer of straw around the base to keep roots warm.


#### Fertilizer Burn
**Symptoms**: Leaf tips turn brown; roots are black and rotten when the seedling is pulled up.

**First Aid**:
- Dilute the fertilizer by watering heavily, repeating for 3 days.
- Drench with microbial agents (5kg per mu) to repair roots.
- Stop fertilizing for 1 month; resume with weak, frequent doses once the seedling recovers.

**Tips**: Always dilute compound fertilizer 1000x with water! Chicken manure must be fully composted for at least 3 months!


### 3. Root Rot
If the seedling wilts very quickly, accompanied by root rot, soil-borne pathogens are likely the culprit! Root rot can kill the entire plant within days.

**How to Identify**:
1. Pull the seedling: Check if taproots and lateral roots are brown and mushy.
2. Check leaves: Do they yellow from the bottom up, spreading gradually?

**Emergency Treatment**:
1. Isolate infected plants! Pull them up and destroy them immediately—don’t leave them in the soil.
2. Sterilize the soil: Drench roots with a solution of hymexazol + carbendazim, 500ml per plant.
3. Prevent infection in healthy seedlings: Spray bacillus subtilis once a week to boost resistance.

**Tips**: Save them by changing soil! Soil where tomatoes were grown continuously must be mixed with new soil + organic fertilizer!


### 4. Daily Seedling Care
1. Choose seedlings with white, sturdy roots and thick leaves when buying.
2. Water only when the top 2cm of soil is dry, then soak thoroughly.
3. Check root condition by gently loosening soil once a week.
4. Avoid planting solanaceous plants in the same spot consecutively.